Mexico remains the country that has hosted more NBA games than any other outside the United States and Canada, and each regular-season visit still fills the arena in Mexico City in front of a fan base the league counts at roughly 30 million people. Yet after four seasons of receiving two games per year, Mexico now gets just one — and the league’s top executive for the region says the shift is about spreading a finite supply of games across a growing list of markets, not about Mexico slipping down the priority list. “When you are a global league, there is of course constant competition for games,” Raúl Zárraga, the NBA’s senior vice president and head of operations for Latin America and Canada, told Sports Illustrated México. “Mexico is privileged because it has always been among the league’s priorities for bringing games here.”
The change, which took effect when international games resumed after the pandemic, marks the end of the busiest era in the league’s three-decade relationship with Mexico — and it comes as Europe and Asia absorb more of the schedule that once flowed to Mexico City.
How Mexico Went From One Game to Two — and Back to One
The relationship began in October 1992, when the Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks played a preseason game at the Palacio de los Deportes. The two clubs returned on Dec. 6, 1997, for the first official regular-season game in the country, a 108-106 Houston win in which Charles Barkley recorded 19 points and 17 rebounds.
Exhibition games followed in the years after, and regular-season contests resumed in earnest with the opening of Arena Ciudad de México in 2012. The venue’s first scheduled NBA date did not happen: on Dec. 4, 2013, a Spurs-Timberwolves game was suspended minutes before tipoff after smoke from an electrical generator fire filled the building. The league returned the following November, when Houston beat Minnesota, and again in December 2015, when Boston defeated Sacramento.
Then came the expansion. From the 2016-17 through the 2019-20 seasons, Mexico hosted two games per campaign — the high-water mark of the country’s NBA history. In January 2017, Phoenix played both Dallas and San Antonio as part of the 2016-17 slate, and in December of that year Brooklyn faced Oklahoma City and Miami in the 2017-18 season, meaning the 2017 calendar year contained four official games in Mexico, albeit from two different seasons. The streak continued through 2018 and ended in December 2019, when Dallas played Detroit and San Antonio faced Phoenix — the first edition featuring four different franchises in a single season.
The pandemic halted the league’s international games entirely. When the NBA returned to Mexico in December 2022, with Miami facing San Antonio, the schedule called for a single game. The same one-game formula has been repeated in 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026.
Europe Now Competes Directly for the Same Calendar Slots
The reduction coincides with the NBA’s push into other markets. Zárraga said Mexico now shares the international calendar with countries across Europe and Asia, alongside league activities in other regions — and Europe shows how large that competition has become.
In January 2026, Orlando and Memphis played regular-season games in Berlin and London, the first time the league staged official games in two European cities during the same season. Both sold out, and according to the league, ticket buyers came from 62 countries and territories. Viewership climbed as well: the London game drew a 90 percent increase over the last NBA London Game in 2019, and the Berlin contest was the most-watched regular-season game in Germany up to that point. The league has already committed to the route: Paris and Manchester will host official games in January 2027, and Berlin and Paris are on the 2028 calendar.
Zárraga said more markets are now asking for an NBA game, and Mexico still keeps its own. “This formula has worked quite well; fans have clearly responded in an admirable way,” he said.
Capitanes de México Fill the Gap in the Same Arena
For the league, its footprint in Mexico expanded through the G League. Capitanes de Ciudad de México became the first G League team based outside the United States and Canada in 2021, and Zárraga said the club will play 24 home games at Arena Ciudad de México during the 2026-27 season, including Tip-Off Tournament contests that precede the G League regular season.
“I’m offering you 24 Capitanes games in Mexico City, in the same arena where NBA teams play,” Zárraga said. He acknowledged a talent gap between the two leagues but said attending a Capitanes game increasingly resembles attending an NBA game. “Those elements balance the offering that perhaps someone might miss a second game,” he added.
That pairing is already visible on the calendar: on Nov. 7, Denver and Indiana will play the 35th NBA game in Mexico, and one day later Capitanes will host the Texas Legends in their home debut — one NBA game and, in place of the second, a G League matchup, in the same weekend and the same arena.
Questions Fans Still Ask About the NBA in Mexico
- Why did Mexico go from two NBA games to one? The league’s international schedule expanded to more markets, and Zárraga framed the one-game-plus-Capitanes model as the formula that works for the organization now. The two-game run lasted from the 2016-17 through the 2019-20 seasons.
- When was the first regular-season NBA game in Mexico? Dec. 6, 1997, when Houston defeated Dallas 108-106 behind Barkley’s 19 points and 17 rebounds.
- Which cities are next on the NBA’s international calendar? Paris and Manchester in January 2027, with Berlin and Paris scheduled for 2028, following the January 2026 games in Berlin and London.
- What is the next NBA game in Mexico? Denver vs. Indiana on Nov. 7 at Arena Ciudad de México, with Capitanes hosting Texas the following day.
The open question is whether one NBA game plus a full G League slate satisfies the same audience that once packed the arena twice a season. The league’s answer, for now, is that the numbers say yes — sellout crowds, a 30-million-fan base, and a 2026 schedule that keeps Mexico on the map even as Paris, Manchester, Berlin and London join the rotation.
